Center for Biological Diversity

Media Advisory, July 23, 2018

Contact: Hollin Kretzmann, (510) 844-7133, hkretzmann@biologicaldiversity.org

Alameda County to Decide if Spill-prone Company Can Keep Extracting Oil in Livermore

OAKLAND, Calif.— The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will decide at its public hearing tomorrow whether to reverse the zoning board’s approval of two permits that extend oil extraction in the county’s only active oilfield for another 10 years.

E&B Natural Resources, the Bakersfield-based company that operates the Livermore oilfield, has a history of spills and violations across California. The company’s previous permits expired in January 2018. If the board rejects the new permits, E&B will need to cease its Livermore operations, ending fossil fuel extraction in the county.

“This polluter’s obvious disregard for public safety and the environment is reason enough to shutter this dangerous operation,” said Hollin Kretzmann, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “And it’s a critical opportunity for Alameda County to show true climate leadership by keeping this dirty oil in the ground.”

What: The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will hear public comments and vote on whether to reverse the zoning board’s approval of E&B Natural Resources’ applications for continued drilling in the Livermore oilfield.  

When: Tuesday, July 24, 1 p.m.

Where: Room 512, County Administration Building, 1221 Oak Street, Oakland, CA

Who: Local residents with Livermore Eco Watchdogs and Center for Biological Diversity Senior Attorney Hollin Kretzmann will deliver comments opposing the permits and will be available for media interviews.

Background
E&B Natural Resources, which operates in California, Louisiana, Kansas and Wyoming, applied for a 10-year permit to extend and expand its operations at the Livermore oilfield.

On May 24 the Alameda East County Board of Zoning Adjustments approved the permits, despite hundreds of residents voicing their opposition to the project. On June 1 the Center and Livermore Eco Watchdogs appealed that decision to the board of supervisors.

In 2015 Alameda County officials reported a spill of toxic fluid at E&B’s Livermore site, which contaminated 12 feet of soil that had to be removed. E&B was fined for failing to report the spill immediately and disposing of the soil without testing for hazardous chemicals.

The company has reported at least 48 spills of oil or other hazardous materials in four different California counties since 2007, according to records from the California Office of Emergency Services.

E&B has simultaneously sought state and federal approval to nearly triple the area of the Livermore aquifer into which it can inject toxic wastewater. The company has also added plans to acquire a state permit for an extraction technique called waterflooding, which uses pressure from injecting wastewater to push oil up to the surface.

Tomorrow’s hearing comes two weeks after more than two dozen scientists sent a letter to Governor Jerry Brown warning that oil drilling in California undercuts the state’s climate progress and harms vulnerable communities.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.6 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

www.biologicaldiversity.org

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